Culinary Arts Teacher at High School Charged With Stealing Kitchen
Supplies

By CHRIS BURRELL

High school culinary arts teacher Peter J. Koines was arraigned
yesterday in Edgartown District Court on charges that he stole
school-owned kitchen supplies and diverted school funds to buy food for
his own commercial kitchen.

Mr. Koines, who heads up the culinary program at the Martha's
Vineyard Regional High School, was arrested Friday by Oak Bluffs police
after they searched his home and an outbuilding in Oak Bluffs and found
equipment and supplies missing from the high school valued at roughly
$11,000.

In addition to his work as a teacher, Mr. Koines also runs his own
business selling pies at the Farmer's Market in West Tisbury.
Police said Mr. Koines also operates a private catering business.

He pleaded not guilty to three charges of larceny and one count of
receiving stolen property. The police investigation is ongoing and could
lead to more charges.

School officials notified the police of missing equipment on June
24, according to a statement from Oak Bluffs police.

High school principal Peg Regan has recommended firing Mr. Koines,
who is 56 years old and has taught at the school since 1989. But the
final decision is expected to come from Vineyard schools superintendent
Dr. Kriner Cash sometime before the end of the month.

Yesterday, Mr. Cash told the Gazette that he wants to talk to Mr.
Koines first. "The matter is being scheduled for a hearing at my
level," he said. "The employee has contributed over 15 years
of highly valued service to the school and community. We will take all
the facts of the situation into consideration."

Neither Mr. Koines nor his defense attorney, Charles Morano, Jr. of
Edgartown, could be reached for comment.

Among the items discovered by police Friday were a commercial
four-door refrigerator, two commercial mixers, two stainless steel
tables, assorted cooking and baking utensils and frozen pie shells and
frozen fruit.

"School invoices indicate diversion of food inventory to
school use," a police report stated.

Mr. Koines teaches in the vocational side of the regional high
school and is in charge of a special revolving account, created to
handle the income from sales of pies and other baked goods made by the
culinary students, said Mrs. Regan.

Mrs. Regan would not say whether the charges against Mr. Koines will
lead to any changes in the way school officials oversee purchasing or
keeping track of school-owned equipment in the vocational high school.

"That hasn't been decided. We're taking things
step by step," she said.

Police began interviewing teachers and other school staff three
weeks ago when administrators reported the equipment missing.
"We've been investigating for a while before we went for a
search warrant," said Oak Bluffs police Sgt. Timothy Williamson.

By most accounts, Mr. Koines has been a popular teacher in the
vocational high school. In 1999, his students won second place honors in
a regional cooking contest. He has also led his students on overseas
trips to Italy and France to learn more about international cooking.

In 1997, he told a reporter from the student newspaper that his
program boasted a strong job placement rate, supplying many of the
Island restaurants with the labor force they needed.